INDONESIA: EMOTIONAL MEMORIAL SERVICE BRINGS FRIENDS AND FAMILIES OF BALI BOMBING VICTIMS TOGETHER

Record ID: 649104

  • Title: INDONESIA: EMOTIONAL MEMORIAL SERVICE BRINGS FRIENDS AND FAMILIES OF BALI BOMBING VICTIMS TOGETHER
  • Date: 13th October 2003
  • Summary: (U2) BALI, INDONESIA (OCTOBER 12, 2003) (REUTERS) 1. WIDE OF PODIUM WITH AUSTRALIAN AND INDONESIAN FLAG; LAS LARGE HINDU STATUE; WIDE OF AUSTRALIAN PRIME MINISTER JOHN HOWARD SPEAKING AT PODIUM (3 SHOTS) 0.16 2. (SOUNDBITE) (English) HOWARD SAYING "We've also learnt that we in this part of the world must make common cause to fight the scourge of terrorism. The events of the last year have brought the people of Australia and the people of Indonesia closer together." 0.32 3. SCU AUSTRALIAN POLICE AND ARMY OFFICERS LISTENING/WIPING EYES; WIDE OF AUDIENCE/CLOSE UP OF MAN CRYING; SCU MAN WITH HEAD IN HANDS (4 SHOTS) 0.54 4. INDONESIAN SECURITY MINISTER BAMBANG SUSILO YUDHOYONO SPEAKING; SLV AUDIENCE LISTENING; SLV PEOPLE SPEAKING AT SERVICE (3 SHOTS) 1.15 5. MV HOWARD AND WIFE WITH HEADS BOWED AS NAMES ARE READ OUT 1.24 6. PEOPLE LAYING FLOWERS IN WATER POND; SCU WOMEN CRYING; SCU MAN PRAYING; MV PEOPLE HUGGING; SCU WOMAN CRYING WITH CANDLES IN FOREGROUND; PEOPLE GATHERED AROUND WATER POND (6 SHOTS) 1.52 7. SCU PHOTOGRAPHS OF VICTIMS FLOATING ON WATER; CU CANDLE 2.01 8. SCU LITTLE GIRL LAYING FLOWER 2.95 9. MV WOMAN JOINING HANDS AND PRAYING; SLV PEOPLE BY WATER POND (2 SHOTS) 2.16 10. (SOUNDBITE) (English) KEVIN PALTRIDGE WHO LOST A SON, A PLAYER IN THE KINGSLEY FOOTBALL CLUB, SAYING "It was very moving especially. I found the moving part the music at the end when were putting the floral tributes down because a couple of those songs were used at my son's funeral and the other part was the reading of the names because you realised that we were only seven from Kingsley football club and there were so many others." 2.34 11. MV PAN BOARD WITH STILL PHOTOGRAPHS OF VICTIMS 2.45 21. MV JOHN HOWARD AND HIS WIFE LAYING A WREATH AT A MEMORIAL ERECTED AT THE SITE OF THE BOMBING; SPECTATORS; MV HOWARD AND WIFE STANDING IN SILENCE; SLV OTHER AUSTRALIAN DIGNITARIES LAYING WREATHS; WIDE OF SITE OF BOMBING (7 SHOTS) 3.38 Initials Script is copyright Reuters Limited. All rights reserved
  • Embargoed: 28th October 2003 12:00
  • Keywords:
  • Location: BALI, INDONESIA
  • Country: Indonesia
  • Reuters ID: LVA68H8N4PRM4V9H14M0VYHI4BK2
  • Story Text: An emotional memorial service brings friends and
    families of the victims of the Bali bombings together.

    Heads bowed and weeping, Australian and other
    survivors of last year's bomb attacks on Bali island and
    their grieving relatives paid tribute on Sunday (October
    12) to the 202 people who died.

    Some 800 survivors and relatives attended the memorial
    service on a limestone escarpment overlooking Kuta Beach,
    where Muslim militants blew up two nightclubs one year ago.

    The majority of the mourners were from Australia, which
    lost 88 citizens in the worst act of terror since the
    September 11, 2001 strikes on the United States. In all, 22
    countries lost nationals.

    Australian Prime Minister John Howard said that the
    attacks had forged new bonds between the people of
    Indonesia and Australia.

    "We've also learnt that we in this part of the world
    must make common cause to fight the scourge of terrorism.

    The events of the last year have brought the people of
    Australia and the people of Indonesia closer together."
    Chief security minister Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono vowed
    to fight terrorism and said Indonesia would never rest
    until it had caught all those behind the bombings. Around
    40 have been captured and 20 sentenced, including three to
    death.

    Yudhoyono was the most senior representative of the
    Indonesian government present with President Megawati
    Sukarnoputri playing host in Jakarta to the Algerian
    President.

    Indonesia has warned that Muslim militants were
    planning more attacks in the country and had built two
    bombs but insisted the mainly Hindu enclave of Bali was
    safe for the mourners.

    Police with automatic rifles and sniffer dogs have
    deployed.

    Jakarta has blamed the bombings on Jemaah Islamiah, the
    Southeast Asian militant group with links to al Qaeda. But
    according to security experts, it is only a matter of time
    before Jemaah Islamiah strikes again in Indonesia.

    In the cathedral-like atmosphere of the Garuda Wisnu
    Cultural Park about 20 minutes drive from Kuta and bordered
    by towering limestone blocks, Howard talked about the
    "terrible hatred" of the perpetrators and the need to fight
    terrorism.

    Giant copper and bronze statues of the Hindu God Wisnu
    and the Garuda bird, a symbol of freedom, provided the
    backdrop as Australian military chaplains presided over the
    open-air service. It also combined elements of Islam and
    Hinduism.

    A simple wooden cross stood behind the altar.

    Some Australian football players who lost friends in
    the attacks had the number 88 sewn into specially made
    jerseys. A few relatives clutched photos of loved ones.

    Other events will run during the day, finishing with a
    small Balinese ceremony at the bomb site at 11:08 p.m.

    (1508 GMT), the exact time that many fun-filled holidays on
    this lush island paradise were brought to a hellish end one
    year ago.

    For many, the emotion of returning has been raw.

    "It was very moving especially. I found the moving part
    the music at the end when were putting the floral tributes
    down because a couple of those songs were used at my son's
    funeral and the other part was the reading of the names
    because you realised that we were only seven from Kingsley
    football club
    and there were so many others," said Kevin Paltridge who
    lost his son, a player for Kingsley Football Club, in the
    bombing.

    Many victims have been drawn to the site where the
    Sari Club once served as a beacon to hedonism but is now a
    shrine.

    After the memorial service Howard and other dignitaries
    laid wreaths at the spot watched by a large crowd.

    Dozens of wreathes have been laid there. Across the
    road, the names of the 202 dead have been recorded on a
    memorial.

    Indonesia is not making October 12 a day of
    remembrance, saying such events have been held.

    Indonesia lost 38 people, mainly Balinese, while 23
    Britons, nine Swedes and seven Americans died. The blasts
    also shattered the tourist industry in one of Asia's travel
    gems.


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